A collective of crypto and conventional finance corporations, legislation enforcement and safety researchers has shaped a brand new “crypto crime response community” — generally known as the Beacon Network — to establish and freeze illicit funds on the blockchain.
TRM Labs on Wednesday mentioned the “Beacon Network” creates “an unprecedented stage of trade collaboration to dam off-ramps for legal funds.”
At least $47 billion has been despatched to fraud-related addresses since 2023, in keeping with new knowledge from TRM Labs, although the quantity is prone to be far greater.
Under the Beacon Network, verified members can flag pockets addresses suspected of monetary crime, hint the funds throughout the blockchain, and share data with related providers and legislation enforcement.
When the flagged funds hit an alternate or different service collaborating within the community, an alert is distributed mechanically to make sure the funds may be recognized, tracked, and frozen earlier than they’re withdrawn or laundered.
Founding members of the cross-sector community embrace crypto exchanges Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, buying and selling platform Robinhood, cost big PayPal, digital asset service firm Anchorage Digital, Ripple, and safety researchers — together with ZachXBT and the Security Alliance (SEAL).
“Leading federal legislation enforcement companies globally are actively contributing to the community, flagging addresses linked to crucial threats and triggering alerts that assist cease illicit actors earlier than they’ll money out,” mentioned TRM Labs.
🚨 Introducing Beacon Network: The first real-time crypto crime response community. Exchanges, issuers, and legislation enforcement can now hint funds immediately — and act earlier than criminals money out.
Learn extra: https://t.co/ZtslbTyOfM#BeaconNetwork #TRMLabs pic.twitter.com/IX7MPRntF0
— TRM Labs (@trmlabs) August 20, 2025
End-to-end “kill chain” for illicit crypto transactions
TRM Labs mentioned that stolen funds are sometimes rapidly moved earlier than legislation enforcement can intervene, which was the case following the $1.5 billion Bybit hack earlier this yr, when the stolen funds moved via over 10,000 transactions within the first month.
“Until now, legislation enforcement and cryptocurrency platforms have operated in silos, reacting solely after illicit funds have disappeared. The window for interdiction is usually measured in minutes, not days. With Beacon Network, that adjustments,” the agency added.
“Beacon Network is the primary end-to-end ‘kill chain’ for illicit crypto belongings, transferring from detection to motion in minutes somewhat than days.”
Beacon Network is already in use
The Beacon Network is already in use, in accordance to TRM Labs, and has registered a number of successes in serving to observe down illicit funds stolen throughout cybersecurity incidents.
In one case, a legislation enforcement company was in a position to hint $1.5 million linked to an unnamed international rip-off. They used the Beacon Network to blacklist the handle so the funds could possibly be frozen after they have been despatched to an alternate.
In one other incident, a bunch of investigators managed to establish $800,000 in scam-related deposits at a significant alternate, which they then flagged to be frozen.
Related: Crypto crime unit with $250M in seizures expands with Binance
A key characteristic of the community is that solely verified customers, which embrace legislation enforcement companies, vetted companions, and safety researchers the world over, can flag an handle as illicit.
TRM Labs replied to an X person on Wednesday who requested concerning the community being misused, that solely investigators who’ve been verified can flag funds, and provided that they “have excessive confidence in and intend to behave on,” the data.
“Every flag carries important accountability, because it indicators to your entire community that the funds must be taken severely. Misuse or abuse of this method won’t be tolerated.”
Major dangerous actors will likely be focused
The Beacon Network can be utilized for any illicit funds, however TRM Labs mentioned there are a number of key targets the collective group will goal, equivalent to addresses and transactions linked to groups of North Korean IT employees, who’ve been scamming crypto corporations worldwide.
There may also be a concentrate on disrupting hackers and scammers, stopping terrorist financing, and recovering the funds for victims. Finding new corporations that need to be part of the community has additionally been flagged as a precedence.
Magazine: Bitcoin’s long-term safety price range drawback: Impending disaster or FUD?
